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2. arts and crafts
3. photography

Modern HDR photography, a how-to or Saturday morning relaxation « memoirs on a r... Page 1 of 44
Modern HDR photography, a how-to or
Saturday morning relaxation
Published July 15, 2006 photos , technology 89 Comments
/**********************************************************************
This article was created on Saturday the 15th of July 2006 at 11:29 AM
This article was updated on Sunday the 16th of July 2006 at 19:18 PM
This article has been read 75000 times since it’s posting this morning at 11:29 AM
…100000 times @ 17:51 PM
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…114000 times @ 18:20 PM
…141000 times @ 19:19 PM
…152000 times @ 19:39 PM
…167000 times @ 20:19 PM
It has made this blog #2 of WordPress growing blogs, it is the #3 post on WordPress right now
and The Memoirs are #4 blog on WordPress.
This post is #6 on Reddit.com and #7 on del.icio.us’s most popular saves for today. Also,
diggdot.us and Popurls, sites that aggregate news from sites such as Reddit, have generated
traffic towards this post. If you liked this post, please reddit through Reddit.com. I am
currently writing an analysis on this whole phenomenon and will continue posting articles on
HDR and photography.
Any comments, sponsors and inquiries:
memoirs [dot] on [dot] a [dot] rainy [dot] day [at] gmail [dot] com
This article is the first in a series of articles on HDR photography
1.
2.
3.
4.
Modern HDR photography, a how-to <- You are here
How The Memoirs got 167000 hits in a few hours… a photographical HDR revue
The Memoirs got viewed 170000 times in a day, an analysis
Understanding modern HDR Photography, a set of tools, links, examples and
explanations
**********************************************************************/
In this Saturday morning post, I explain HDR photography with the help of some articles. This
post includes step by step ways to create your own HDR images. Be advised that they can be
quite hard for beginners to get interesting results. But where there is a will, there is a way! And
by experimenting, you will get some good pictures. Also, remember that to see the end result,
you have to get through some initial steps.
I have received some questions about certain photographs, so I’ve decided to include three
articles that explains HDR photography in detail. I had added this to the comments, but I felt
this deserved to be included in a post by its own. I have found a few different articles to
explain this to everyone. The first one dwelves in the theory behind. The second one is an easy
way to to HDR and the third one goes in to more detail on the process of HDR photography.
The source of the first article is from cybergrain. The second article is from HDR 101. And the
third is from Cambridgeincolour.This post also include step by step ways to create your own
HDR images.
If you want anymore information, research the sites that I have mentioned or ask questions in
the HDR Pool on flickr.
Update @ 17:54 EST, Saturday the 15th of
July 2006
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This is by no means the only pool on flickr for this type of photography. Check out here for
more groups.
To begin using HDR photography, you need a few simple things.
1. A digital camera, preferably a DSLR but a good point and shoot will do the job.
Remember, you need to be able to change the shutter speed manually. The focus can
stay auto but if you can set it on manual do so
2. A tripod; to function correctly, HDR needs to take different pictures of the same scene.
If you do not want any motion flow, take pictures of stationary objects.
3. Latest edition of Photoshop
4. Photomatix, available free here through their new beta release for Windows. A Mac
version is also available on their website.
5. For simple step by step instructions, scroll down to the second article and follow the
steps.
*****
The following article is by Jon Meyer from one of his articles on HDR Photography. You
can find the source article here. Due to the interest, he has updated his article as of
Sunday, the 16th of July. I have made the changes accordingly. Thanks Jon Meyer!
******
The Future of Digital Imaging – High
Dynamic Range Photography
Introduction
Today’s digital cameras match or slightly exceed the performance of silver halide film.
Computer graphics has achieved the goal of photorealism. Now the goal is to go beyond
simply matching paper and silver halide – to create display technologies which can present any
visual stimuli our eyes are capable of seeing.
One area of rapid development is in dynamic range. A new crop of technologies using High
Dynamic Range imaging (HDR or HDRI) aim to extend the dynamic range of digital imaging
technologies way beyond traditional media.
In this article, I’ll look at recent advances in the field of high dynamic range imaging. I will
cover the basic concepts of dynamic range, and talk about new HDR technologies.
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The Problem
Here’s the problem in a nutshell:
Real-world scenes contain light ranges that exceed a 50,000:1 dynamic range.
For over a thousand years, media has been limited to around a 300:1 dynamic range.
So you have a mapping issue: how do you represent light values in a scene using a much
more limited set of light values for a particular media?
If you are not careful, you end up with results like this:
You can see the chair but nothing out of the window.
Old Solutions
Master painters were very clever about mapping scene intensities to canvas. They used a large
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number of tricks. Look at El Greco’s La Agoria en el Jardin from 1590:
El Greco used saturated colors of opposing hues to increase the apparent dynamic range of the
scene. He also painted black or white lines around the edges of contours. Our eyes determine
contrast locally, so increasing the contrast at local edges increases the overall perceived
contrast of the scene.
(Generally, the phrase “dynamic range” in imaging refers to the measured ratio between high
and low extremes in a set of intensity values. The word “contrast” is often used
interchangeably with dynamic range, though I prefer to use “contrast” to refer to the perceived
contrast of a scene, which may be different from the measured dynamic range. For example, El
Greco’s edge contours increase perceived contrast but don’t change the actual dynamic range
of canvas).
Here is an example from Monet. The red sun in his famous Impressions at Sunrise really leaps
off the canvas (maybe not on your web browser!). The sun is actually the same brightness
value as the surrounding clouds. However, since the sun is a saturated red placed over a
saturated blue cloud, it creates a color vibration, and the sun looks much brighter than it is:
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Check out webexhibits way-cool Flash illustration of this.
Dynamic Range in Photography
Photography involves a capture device (the camera), a storage medium (e.g. film), and a
display or output device (e.g. paper).
The dynamic range of each stage (capture, storage and output) plays a crucial role in the
quality of the results. In general, technologies with greater dynamic range produce more
realistic results. But photography is a compound process, and the dynamic range of each stage
must be considered. When the dynamic range of the source scene is too great for any one stage
of the process, something must be sacrified: you must either give up detail in the shadows or
the highlights. Photographers have to know and work withing the limitations of their camera,
storage and output devices.
W. Eugene Smith spent five days in the darkroom until he came up with a print of Albert
Schweitzer that he was happy with:
Smith was dealing with the issue that silver halide negatives have a greater dynamic range
than photographic paper – so he had to “dodge and burn” different areas of the image to get a
result where both the lamp and sitter are visible.
Perhaps the greatest master of dynamic range in photography was Ansel Adams. He was the
first to systematically measure the sensitivity range of all of the equipment he used. His “zone
system” let him predict precisely what details he could capture on film and paper, so he could
make decisions before pressing the shutter:
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Color Photography
Color negative films have less dynamic range (or “latitude”) than black and white films. My
understanding is that the multiple layers and dies in color film result in reduced sensitivity.
The first color films had very poor latitude, so film manufacturers added more layers – each
color layer was split in two, a high-sensitivity and a low-sensitivity layer, using different
crystal formations:
(I’m not an expert, but maybe color positive film doesn’t use this trick, hence the difference in
latitude between positive and negative film?)
One way to get really great dynamic range with color film photography is to use black-andwhite film together with color filters. You have to take three exposures on separate sheets of
black and white film: one with a red filter, one with a green, and one with a blue – and then
composite the three images together. If you use glass plate negatives, you end up with images
that have incredible colors and resolution. See below:
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The most amazing thing about this image is that it was taken in around 1915 by Prokudin
Gorskii. While it is true that this image was digitally enhanced in Photoshop, in my own
experiments with a 4×5 and red/green/blue filters I achieved an extended non-kodachrome
tonal scale.
The <ext Horizon: Digital HDR
Over the next decade, the imaging industry will inevitably transition to high dynamic range
(HDR) imaging, creating devices that provide a latitude range far greater than traditional silver
halide film. This change will affect all aspects of image making. Each of the systems in the
image workflow will be modified, including capture, storage, editing and output.
Let’s look at each of these workflow stages in turn.
Capture
Today’s cameras have ample resolution. So the next area of product differentiation for camera
manufacturers will be the quality of the pixels, rather than the number of pixels. This shift is
starting to happen already.
For example, Fuji’s SuperCCD S3 Pro camera has a chip with high and low sensitivity sensors
per pixel location to increase dynamic range (the same trick as used in color film to achieve
broader latitude).
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Although the resulting chip has lower overall resolution, it captures greater dynamic range.
This tradeoff of resolution for dynamic range is the beginning of an important trend.
A second alternative is to merge multiple images to increase dynamic range. Paul Debevec at
SIGGRAPH 97 showed how to take multiple photographs at different exposures and merge
them together to create a single high-dynamic range image. This technique is now
incorporated in products such as Photogenics and Photoshop. For now, the technique works
best if the camera is mounted on a tripod. But researchers have already built HDR image
“stitchers” which merge multiple images and automatically account for camera motion
between snaps.
For most consumers, “HDR” will simply mean that the camera records more details in
shadows and in highlights. Just as RAW images extended the detail held in digital images,
HDR will further increase the available tonal range.
Consumers will benefit from the true point-and-shoot ability that broader latitude offers,
because HDR cameras will produce usable images from a much wider range of lighting
situations.
Eventually point-and-shoot cameras will lose their built-in flash. Anyone who uses a camera
with a cheap flash soon learns that the pictures generally look better if you turn the flash off.
Sensors are becoming more sensitive, cameras are getting smaller, and light metering is getting
smarter. Add three or four stops of dynamic range, and the flash becomes a creative ad-on
rather than a requirement.
Professional photographers will also benefit from HDR. With HDR technologies,
photographers can really push the creative envelope, exploring the extremes of high-key and
low-key effects.
Professional cameras will offer a multitude of HDR image-taking modes. For example, they
will automatically blend multiple images taken with different exposures, with and without
flash, possibly using multiple light sources, to produce a single and extremely maliable master
image.
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Storage
All image file formats have range limitations. Formats such as JPEG and GIF provide eight
bits per color channel (often referred to as 24 bit color). Using 8 bits, you can represent 256
different intensities per channel. Most 8 bit formats use a “perceptual” mapping, meaning that
they use a gamma (exponential) curve rather than a linear map of intensities. See Human
vision and tonal levels or the venerable Gamma FAQ for an explanation of this. While JPEG
and GIF are great for moderate dynamic range images, banding becomes apparent if you edit
the image extensively, and the formats cannot store high-dynamic-range scenes.
Newer formats including JPEG2000, RAW and PNG offer up to 16 bits per color channel,
which is plenty for most purposes. However, there is no support for “underage” or “overage” –
these image formats state that “0″ should be mapped to the darkest black of the display, and
“65536″ (or the equivalent) should be mapped to the whitest white. If you want to represent
images that contain brightnesses beyond what your monitor can currently display (e.g. as
produced by HDRShop), you need to look elsewhere.
The most exciting HDR image format today is OpenEXR, developed by Industrial Light &
Magic.
I say this partly because their documentation includes photos from Star Wars (see above). But
it also supports both 16-bit and 32-bit float representations, lossy and lossless codecs, and has
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a great definition for underage and overage.
Other examples of High Dynamic Range formats include SGI’s TIFF LogLuv format, Floating
Point TIFF format, Radiance’s RGBE format, and Portable Float Maps (PFMs).
HDR image formats are especially significant for archival and stock uses, since they store data
with enough precision to record what we can see, rather than what our displays can show.
There are a range of proprietary formats that offer medium or high dynamic range. The various
RAW formats support whatever dynamic range the underlying device associated with the
RAW file uses. Personally, I am not a fan of RAW formats for long term image stoage, since
they are too device and vendor specific. However, that’s a whole other debate.
I don’t yet know if OpenEXR will become a consumer standard, or if it will remain a file
format used only by Hollywood. Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, Canon and others will no doubt
have a big hand in shaping that decision.
Editing
Of all imaging tasks, editing is the one that demands the highest dynamic range. Editing
operations need high precision to avoid aliasing artifacts such as banding and jaggies.
Audio professionals know this. Editing tools like ProTools already use 48 bits per sample
internally, even though the common CD output format only supports 16. Why should we
image makers accept anything less?
Recently, Adobe announced supports for 32-bit-per-channel HDR images in Photoshop CS2, a
great step forward.
Idruna Software is another company doing interesting HDR software. I played with their
PhotogenicsHDR when it first came out, but I found it a little hard to use. Perhaps the newest
PocketPC version is different…
Photoshop users are familiar with the issues of low dynamic range today. With 8 bit channels,
if you brighten an image, information is lost irretrievably: darkening the image after
brightening does not restore the original appearance. Instead, all of the highlights appear flat
and washed out. To avoid this problem, you must work in a carefully planned workflow.
With a true HDR tool, if you brighten an image and then darken it, you should see something
very close to the original image. True HDR editing tools will enable image workers to follow a
much more flexible and simplified workflow, using fewer adjustment layers, with fewer
aliasing artifacts. I expect HDR software will lead to increases in productivity and greater
expressiveness.
It will take the imaging software industry some time to retool and retrain. There are plenty of
unsolved issues.
With HDR, for example, you run into the issue of representing brightness values present in the
image but beyond what your current monitor can show. Do you clamp to the monitor’s gamut,
show zembra stripes, map the colors some other way?
Another issue is how to create graphical user interfaces for HDR editing. Many designers are
familiar with the RGB 0-255 color values, and can type in RGB color numbers directly using
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this system. e.g. 128,128,128 is a mid gray. But what happens when intensities go from 0 to
several million? Where is mid gray? And how do you represent that in a graphical interface? If
the tonal range goes from 0 to something close to the brightness of the sun, where is “white”
on that scale? Do you mean monitor white, paper white, 3200k white, 5600k white …?
A third unsolved issue is image size: If each channel of an image is 32 instead of 8 bits, the
image becomes four times larger. Switching to HDR therefore makes a 100mb image take up
400mb. Not surprisingly, editing operations take about four times longer. Software will need
to become smarter about scheduling work. Live Picture, an early image compositing tool, did a
good job of this, but is no longer available. I expect to see a revival of these techniques as
people grapple with 10GB images.
Tone Mapping
Most LCD/CRT displays (and of course printed paper) have low dynamic range.
So if you want to output an HDR image on paper or on a display, you must somehow convert
the wide intensity range in the image to the lower range supported by the display. This process
is called tone mapping.
One old tone-mapping method is the manual dodge-and-burn technique familiar to
photographers – where you manually select different tonal ranges for different regions of the
image, using a dodging or a burning tool. HDR software will of course support manual dodge
and burn.
Another solution is to use an automated tone mapping filter to reduce the dynamic range of an
HDR image. There are already several filters to choose from.
The left image above shows what you get if you display Paul Debevec’s HDR photo of
Stanford Memorial Church using a very basic tone mapping technique (simply clamping to the
nearest available color on the monitor). Some areas of the image are “blown out”, and the
shadow areas are muddy and lack detail.
The right image show’s Fattal, Lischinkski, and Werman’s tone mapping algorithm, which
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uses a more sophisticated adaptive approach – you see more details in the shadows and the
highlights (look at the stained glass windows), though the image also has a somewhat “flat” or
“computerish” quality.
Tone mapping is a hot area of research in computer graphics. As with HDR file formats, there
is currently no clear winner. Several techniques are listed in the resource section. I expect the
major companies to each champion their own tone-mapping technologies in service bureaus
and print finishing.
Output
Over the past decade, display companies have steadily improved the dynamic range of LCD
and DLP displays. Today many digital displays have a 2000:1 dynamic range, unheard of ten
years ago. This trend of increasing dynamic range will continue.
A few displays available today indicate where the market is going. The most astonishing is the
BrightSide HDR display with a claimed contrast ratio of 60,000:1, good enough to reproduce
the effect of a sunlit scene. They achieve this using high-power white LEDs.
The only bad thing about the BrightSide display is that once you look at it for a few minutes
you just assume that this is how images are supposed to look – it is such a transparently great
technology that until you see a normal image on a normal display you don’t really think of the
HDR display as that exciting. The display is still in the very-expensive bracket, but this will
change quickly.
Of course, HDR displays work best if you have lots of HDR images. I anticipate a huge
market for stock HDR imagery. See the Flickr HDR group for starters.
Applications
Today, the main users of HDR imaging devices are specialized professionals working in the
film, animation and VR industries. Some applications are listed below (see the Resources page
for links).
Film – Tools such as HDRShop by Paul Debevec enable you to convert a series of
photographs into a light probe – a special image that represents the lighting environment in a
room. You can then use the light probe to light virtual objects, so that the virtual objects
actually appear to be lit by the light from the room. This technique is especially useful for
compositing computer graphic objects into images of real scenes. Hollywood films use light
maps extensively to blend CGI into a scene.
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Panoramas – Another use for HDR is in panoramic images. Panoramas often have a wide
dynamic range, e.g. one part of the panorama may contain the sun, another part may be in deep
shadow. Online web panoramas constructed from HDR images look much better than nonHDR equivalents.
Games – A third use for HDR is in computer games. Recent computer graphics cards support
HDR texture maps. With HDR texture maps, you can render objects using light probes, in real
time, yielding much more dynamic and interesting lighting effects. “High Dynamic Range
Lighting Effects” are now all the range in high-end games.
As more consumer-oriented HDR products arrive, I believe the largest application of HDR
will be in consumer photography, though the term HDR is unlikely to be seen – instead you
will see branding terminology, e.g. companies will make up words like “DynaChrome”,
“MaxBright”, “SuperColor” etc.
Do we really need HDR?
I recently read this comment from Sam Berry:
… the whole article has no mention of the fact that the reason most controlled
lighting is almost always done to ratio of less than 8:1 even with neg film /modern
digital capable of much more is because that’s what looks good. HDR technology
now means you can reproduce your harsh midday sunlit scene perfectly, and it
will look identically awful compared to the original.
The debate boils down to this: Does an image with a 300:1 dynamic range look good because
it represents a physical sweetspot — something to do with our perceptual system that works
well at that ratio? Or is it that all we’ve had access to for hundreds of years are reflective
images with a roughly 300:1 dynamic range, so we are accustomed to that?
I had a similar question in my mind before seeing the BrightSide HDR display. Now, after
looking at a HDR image on a 50,000:1 HDR display, I am no longer concerned about overbrightness, 50,000:1 is still way less than the brightness of looking directly at the sun. It
wasn’t blinding. It isn’t a question of harsh. Images simply looks better when they look more
real.
In the coming decade, HDR digital imaging technology will arrive, and change how we take,
manipulate, store, use and display images forever.
*****
This next article explains how exactly to do an HDR image with digital technology. It is
written by Fabo from hdr101. His site contains further HDR resources.
*****
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HDR Tutorial (Photomatix) (English)
This is a basic, standard, step by step tutorial of how to make an HDR Image.(Note: this
tutorial is based on building an HDR image from 7 differents shots. My camara doesn’t shoot
RAW. More on building an HDR image from a single RAW file, soon!)
The materials for this process are as follows:
Hardware:
* Digital Camera (Obvius, but hey you never know
)
)
* Tripod
Software:
* Photomatix (used for Generating HDR and Tone Mapping)
* Photoshop CS2. (But for this tutorial any version of Photoshop will do. We’ll be using it for
retouching only)
Ok, let’s get going!
Taking the pictures:
Put your camera in the tripod. Place it firmly because you’ll have to touch the camera to
change the speed and this can make you move it, and then, well you wont be able to get the
HDR you were hoping for.
After selecting the subject you wish to shoot, prepare everything as if you were only going to
take one picture. Prepare it to your taste or what ever is you want to acomplish.
Set your primary exposure and speed. We are going to call this master setting 0. After this is
complete and you have everything set up you are going to take let’s say 7 pictures:
3 pictures up from 0 and 3 pictures down.
Dude what do you mean?? Don’t panic is quite easy:
If the settings for picture 0 is: 1/125 and f/4.5
The settings for the remaining pictures are as follows:
* Picture +3: 1/250 f/4.5
* Picture +2: 1/200 f/4.5
* Picture +1: 1/160 f/4.5
* Picture 0: 1/125 f/4.5 (YOUR MASTER SETTING)
* Picture -1: 1/100 f/4.5
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* Picture -2: 1/80 f/4.5
* Picture -3: 1/60 f/4.5
You’ve may noticed that the F/ stays the same. This is quite simple: if that value changes also
will you Depth of Field which will cause you focus to change also.
Now that you have taken all your pictures is time to go and kick some Photomatix but!
Ok, so you got to your computer, opened up Photomatix, and oh well you have no idea what to
do. No problem becouse this part of the process has litle pictures in it, so you wont have any
excuse not to make HDR pictures!!
Photomatix:
Open Photomatix and look for the HDRI tab. Click on it. After you will see GENERATE
HDR. Go ahead click some more.
When you do that something like this comes up:
Now you click on the BROWSE button and select the pictures you want:
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After you you click the SELECT button a screen like this come along:
Ok. Now your pictures are selected and you click OK. Now you have to choices: to Align
Input Images or not to let the software do it. I personally always let the software do it. Is up to
you:
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Now you’ll get this screen. Depending on you computer memory this may take a while, but
not to long. I’ve notice that when one of the picture is to dark or to bright, in Auto Align,
Photomatix has a hard time aligning the images. I usually cancel and deselect the image I think
is causing the problem:
If everything is ok, this should come up:
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After Photomatix is done, it shows you your new Generated HDR Image:
But you want it like does cool ones out there! Wait, there’s more: ToneMapping!
Now you go to the HDRI tab and select Tone Mapping. Here is where the fun begins!
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The first thing you may notice is the difference in the picture. Here you have 7 important
options:
Luminosity
Strength
Color Saturation
White Clip
Black Clip
Smoothing
MicroContrast
I could go on and explain what all those sliders and buttons do, but we’ll do something better:
You try!
Move them up, down, put some more here, take some less there. The idea is for you to
experience it for yourself. Trust me, is really fun that way!
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So after moving around the sliders i get to a point where i like the results:
I go click on OK, and we go back to the first screen but with the final version of the photo:
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Now i want to take it to Photoshop for aditional retouching but first i have to save it. I preffer
TIFF format:
Choose your name, location and format:
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Now go open Photoshop, and open the TIFF you just saved:
Now go to the IMAGE tab, ADJUSTMENTS. Now you have to play and have fun with each
and every other option in there. Try everything and if you do something you don’t like, don’t
worry UNDO! (Also play with some filters, they can help to!)
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After playing a litle bit, i got to this point which i like:
Now save it again in any format you like. I always save them on TIFF:
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Voila! Your first HDR Image. Kind a cool, insn’t?
*****
And the last one is by Sean T. McHugh from his photographic tutorials located on
Cambrigdeincolour.
*****
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HIGH DY<AMIC RA<GE
PHOTOGRAPHY
High dynamic range (HDR) images enable photographers to record a greater range of tonal
detail than a given camera could capture in a single photo. This opens up a whole new set of
lighting possibilities which one might have previously avoided—for purely technical reasons.
The new “merge to HDR” feature of Photoshop CS2 allows the photographer to combine a
series of bracketed exposures into a single image which encompasses the tonal detail of the
entire series. There is no free lunch however; trying to broaden the tonal range will inevitably
come at the expense of decreased contrast in some tones. Learning to use the merge to HDR
feature in Photoshop CS2 can help you make the most of your dynamic range under tricky
lighting—while still balancing this trade-off with contrast.
MOTIVATIO<: THE DY<AMIC RA<GE DILEMMA
As digital sensors attain progressively higher resolutions, and thereby successively smaller
pixel sizes, the one quality of an image which does not benefit is its dynamic range. This is
particularly apparent in compact cameras with resolutions near 8 megapixels, as these are
more susceptible than ever to blow highlights or noisy shadow detail. Further, some scenes
simply contain a greater brightness range than can be captured by current digital cameras– of
any type.
The “bright side” is that nearly any camera can actually capture a vast dynamic range– just not
in a single photo. By varying the shutter speed alone, most digital cameras can change how
much light they let in by a factor of 50,000 or more. High dynamic range imaging attempts to
utilize this characteristic by creating images composed of multiple exposures, which can far
surpass the dynamic range of a single exposure.
WHE< TO USE HDR IMAGES
I would suggest only using HDR images when the scene’s brightness distribution can no
longer be easily blended using a graduated neutral density (GND) filter. This is because GND
filters extend dynamic range while still maintaining local contrast. Scenes which are ideally
suited for GND filters are those with simple lighting geometries, such as the linear blend from
dark to light encountered commonly in landscape photography (corresponding to the relatively
dark land transitioning into bright sky).
In contrast, a scene whose brightness distribution is no longer easily blended using a GND
filter is the doorway scene shown below.
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Brightness
Distribution
Underexposure
Overexposure
We note that the above scene contains roughly three tonal regions with abrupt transitions at
their edges– therefore requiring a custom-made GND filter. If we were to look at this in
person, we would be able to discern detail both inside and outside the doorway, because our
eyes would adjust to changing brightness. The goal of HDR use in this article is to better
approximate what we would see with our own eyes through the use of a technique called tonal
mapping.
I<<ER WORKI<GS OF A< HDR FILE
Photoshop creates an HDR file by using the EXIF information from each of your bracketed
images to determine their shutter speed, aperture and ISO settings. It then uses this information
to assess how much light came from each image region. Since this light may vary greatly in its
intensity, Photoshop creates the HDR file using 32-bits to describe each color channel (as
opposed to the usual 16 or 8-bits, as discussed in the tutorial on “Understanding Bit Depth“).
The real benefit is that HDR files use these extra bits to create a relatively open-ended
brightness scale, which can adjust to fit the needs of your image. The important distinction is
that these extra bits are used differently than the extra bits in 16-bit images, which instead just
define tones more precisely (see tutorials on the “RAW File Format” and “Posterization“). We
refer to the usual 8 and 16-bit files as being low dynamic range (LDR) images, relatively
speaking.
The 32-bit HDR file format describes a greater dynamic range by using its bits to specify
floating point numbers, also referred to as exponential notation. A floating point number is
represented by a fractional numerical value raised to some power of 10, such as 5.467×103, as
opposed to the usual 0-255 (for 8-bit) or 0-65535 (for 16-bit) integer color specifications. This
way, an image file can specify a brightness of 4,300,000,000 simply as 4.3x109, which would
be too large even with 32-bit integers.
We see that the floating point notation certainly looks neater and more concise, but how does
this help a computer? Why not just keep adding more bits to specify successively larger
numbers, and therefore a larger dynamic range? Recall that for ordinary LDR files, far more
bits are used to distinguish lighter tones than darker tones (from the tutorial on gamma
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correction, tonal levels and exposure – to be added). As a result, as more bits are added, an
exponentially greater fraction of these bits are used to specify color more precisely, instead of
extending dynamic range.
The more closely spaced bits for brighter values is a result of the fact that ordinary 8 and 16bit JPEG files are gamma-encoded, which can actually help increase dynamic range for lowbit files; gamma-encoding just becomes more and more inefficient as the bit depth increases.
HDR files get around this LDR dilemma of diminishing returns by using floating point
numbers which are proportional to the actual brightness values of the subject matter (gamma
equals one, or linear). This ensures that bits are equally spaced throughout the dynamic range,
and not just concentrated in the brighter tones– allowing for greater bit efficiency. Further, the
use of floating point numbers ensure that all tones are recorded with the same relative
precision, since the base (mantissa) in numbers such as 2.576×103 and 8.924×109 each have
the same number of significant figures (four), even though the second number is more than a
million times larger.
Note: just as how using high bit depth images do not necessarily mean your image contains
more color, a high dynamic range file does not guarantee greater dynamic range unless this is
also present in the actual subject matter.
All of these extra bits provided by the HDR format are great, and effectively allow for a nearly
infinite brightness range to be described. The problem is that your computer display (or the
final photographic print) can only show a fixed brightness scale. This tutorial therefore focuses
on how to create and convert HDR files into an ordinary 8 or 16-bit image, which can be
displayed on a monitor, or will look great as a photographic print. This process is also
commonly referred to as tonal mapping.
I<-FIELD PREPARATIO<
Since creating a HDR image requires capturing a series of identically-positioned exposures, a
sturdy tripod is essential. Photoshop has a feature which attempts to align the images when the
camera may have moved between shots, however best results are achieved when this is not
relied upon.
Make sure to take at least three exposures, although five or more is recommended for
optimum accuracy. More exposures allow the HDR algorithm to better approximate how your
camera translates light into digital values (a.k.a. the digital sensor’s response curve)– creating
a more even tonal distribution. The doorway example is best-suited with several intermediate
exposures, in addition to the two shown previously.
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Reference
-1 Stops
-2 Stops
-3 Stops
It is essential that the darkest of these exposures includes no blown highlights in areas where
you want to capture detail. The darkest exposure should show the darkest regions of the image
with enough brightness that they are relatively noise-free and clearly visible. Each exposure
should be separated by one to two stops, and these are ideally set by varying the shutter speed
(as opposed to aperture or ISO speed). Recall that each “stop” refers to a doubling (+1 stop) or
halving (-1 stop) of the light captured from an exposure.
We also note another disadvantage of HDR images: they require relatively static subject
matter, due to the necessity of several separate exposures. Our previous ocean sunset example
would therefore not be well-suited for the HDR technique, as the waves would have moved
significantly between each exposure.
CREATI<G A 32-BIT HDR FILE I< PHOTOSHOP CS2
Here we use Adobe Photoshop CS2 to convert the sequence of exposures into a single image,
which uses tonal mapping to approximate what we would see with our eye. Before tonal
mapping can be performed, we first need to combine all exposures into a single 32-bit HDR
file.
Open the HDR tool (File>Automate>Merge to HDR…), and load all photographs in the
exposure sequence; for this example it would be the four images shown in the previous
section. If your images were not taken on a stable tripod, this step may require checking
“Attempt to Automatically Align Source Images” (which greatly increases processing time).
After pressing OK, you will soon see a “Computing Camera Response Curves” message.
Once your computer has stopped processing, it will show a window with their combined
histogram. Photoshop has estimated the white point, but this value often clips the highlights.
You may wish to move the white point slider to the rightmost edge of the histogram peaks in
order to see all highlight detail. This value is for preview purposes only and will require
setting more precisely later. After pressing OK, this leaves you with a 32-bit HDR image,
which can now be saved if required. Note how the image may still appear quite dark; only
once it has been converted into a 16 or 8-bit image (using tonal mapping) will it begin to look
more like the desired result.
At this stage, very few image processing functions can be applied to a 32-bit HDR file, so it is
of little use other than for archival purposes. One function which is available is exposure
adjustment (Image>Adjustments>Exposure). You may wish to try increasing the exposure to
see any hidden shadow detail, or decreasing the exposure to see any hidden highlight detail.
USI<G HDR TO<AL MAPPI<G I< PHOTOSHOP CS2
Here we use Adobe Photoshop CS2 to convert the 32-bit HDR image into a 16 or 8-bit LDR
file using tonal mapping. This requires interpretive decisions about the type of tonal mapping,
depending on the subject matter and brightness distribution within the photograph.
Convert into a regular 16-bit image (Image>Mode>16 Bits/Channel…) and you will see the
HDR Conversion tool. The tonal mapping method can be chosen from one of four options,
described below.
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Exposure and
Gamma
This method lets you manually adjust the
exposure and gamma, which serve as the
equivalent to brightness and contrast
adjustment, respectively.
Highlight
Compression
This method has no options and applies a
custom tonal curve, which greatly reduces
highlight contrast in order to brighten and
restore contrast in the rest of the image.
Equalize
Histogram
This method attempts to redistribute the HDR
histogram into the contrast range of a normal
16 or 8-bit image. This uses a custom tonal
curve which spreads out histogram peaks so
that the histogram becomes more
homogenous. It generally works best for
image histograms which have several
relatively narrow peaks with no pixels in
between.
Local
Adaptation
This is the most flexible method and probably
the one which is of most use to photographers.
Unlike the other three methods, this one
changes how much it brightens or darkens
regions on a per-pixel basis (similar to local
contrast enhancement). This has the effect of
tricking the eye into thinking that the image
has more contrast, which is often critical in
contrast-deprived HDR images. This method
also allows changing the tonal curve to better
suit the image.
Before using any of the above methods, one may first wish to set the black and white points on
the image histogram sliders (see “Using Levels in Photoshop” for a background on this
concept). Click on the double arrow next to “Toning Curve and Histogram” to show the image
histogram and sliders.
The remainder of this tutorial focuses on settings related to the “local adaptation” method, as
this is likely the most-used, and provides the greatest degree of flexibility.
CO<CEPT: TO<AL HIERARCHY & IMAGE
CO<TRAST
In contrast to the other three conversion methods, the local adaptation method does not
necessarily retain the overall hierarchy of tones. It translates pixel intensities not just with a
single tonal curve, but instead also based on the surrounding pixel values. This means that
unlike using a tonal curve, tones on the histogram are not just stretched and compressed, but
may instead cross positions. Visually, this would mean that some part of the subject matter
which was initially darker than some other part could later acquire the same brightness or
become lighter than that other part– if even by a small amount.
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Underexposed Photo
Overexposed Photo
Final Composite that
Violates Large-Scale
Tonal Hierarchy
A clear example where global tonal hierarchy is not violated is the example used in the page
on using a GND to extend dynamic range (although this is not how local adaptation works). In
this example, even though the foreground sea foam and rock reflections are actually darker
than the distant ocean surface, the final image renders the distant ocean as being darker. The
key concept here is that over larger image regions our eyes adjust to changing brightness
(such as looking up at a bright sky), while over smaller distances our eyes do not.
Mimicking this characteristic of vision can be thought of as a goal of the local adaptive
method– particularly for brightness distributions which are more complex than the simple
vertical blend in the ocean sunset above.
An example of a more complex brightness distribution is shown below for three statue images.
We refer to contrast over larger image distances as global contrast, whereas contrast changes
over smaller image distances are termed local contrast. The local adaptation method attempts
to maintain local contrast, while decreasing global contrast (similar to that performed with the
ocean sunset example).
The above example illustrates visually how local and global contrast impact an image. Note
how the large-scale (global) patches of light and dark are exaggerated for the case of high
global contrast. Conversely, for the case of low global contrast the front of the statue’s face is
virtually the same brightness as it’s side.
The original image looks fine since all tonal regions are clearly visible, and shown with
sufficient contrast to give it a three-dimensional appearance. Now imagine that we started with
the middle image, which would be an ideal candidate for HDR conversion. Tonal mapping
using local adaptation would likely produce an image similar to the far right image (although
perhaps not as exaggerated), since it retains local contrast while still decreasing global contrast
(thereby retaining texture in the darkest and lightest regions).
HDR CO<VERSIO< USI<G LOCAL ADAPTATIO<
The distance which distinguishes between local and global contrast is set using the radius
value. Radius and threshold are similar to the settings for an unsharp mask used for local
contrast enhancement. A high threshold improves local contrast, but also risks inducing halo
artifacts, whereas too low of a radius can make the image appear washed out. For any given
image, it is recommended to adjust each of these to see their effect, since their ideal
combination varies depending on image content.
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In addition to the radius and threshold values, images almost always require adjustments to the
tonal curve. This technique is identical to that described in the Photoshop curves tutorial,
where small and gradual changes in the curve’s slope are nearly always ideal. This curve is
shown for our doorway example below, yielding the final result.
HDR images which have been converted into 8 or 16-bit often require touching up in order to
improve their color accuracy. Subtle use of levels and saturation can drastically improve
problem areas in the image. In general, regions which have increased in contrast (a large slope
in the tonal curve) will exhibit an increase in color saturation, whereas the opposite occurs for
a decrease in contrast. Changes in saturation may sometimes be desirable when brightening
shadows, but in most other instances this should be avoided.
The main problem with the local adaptation method is that it cannot distinguish between
incident and reflected light. As a result, it may unnecessarily darken naturally white textures
and brighten darker ones. Be aware of this when choosing the radius and threshold settings so
that this effect can be minimized.
TIP: USI<G HDR TO REDUCE SHADOW <OISE
Even if your scene does not require more dynamic range, your final photo may still improve
from a side benefit: decreased shadow noise. Ever noticed how digital images always have
more noise in the shadows than in brighter tones? This is because the image’s signal to noise
ratio is higher where the image has collected more of a light signal. You can take advantage of
this by combining a properly exposed image with one which has been overexposed. Photoshop
always uses the most exposed image to represent a given tone—thereby collecting more light
in the shadow detail (but without overexposing).
RECOMME<DATIO<S
Keep in mind that HDR images are extremely new– particularly in the field of digital
photography. Existing tools are therefore likely to improve significantly; there is currently, and
may never be, an automated single-step process which converts all HDR images into those
which look pleasing on screen, or in a print. Good HDR conversions therefore require
significant work and experimentation in order to achieve realistic and pleasing final
images.
Additionally, incorrectly converted or problematic HDR images may appear washed out after
conversion. While re-investigating the conversion settings is recommended as the first
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corrective step, touch-up with local contrast enhancement may also yield a more pleasing
result.
As with all new tools, be careful not to overdo their use. Use care when violating the image’s
original tonal hierarchy; do not expect deep shadows to become nearly as light as a bright sky.
In our doorway example, the sunlit building and sky are the brightest objects, and they stayed
that way in our final image. Overdoing editing during HDR conversion easily can cause the
image to lose its sense of realism. Furthermore, HDR should only be used when necessary;
best results can always be achieved by having good lighting to begin with.
*****
<ext: How The Memoirs got 167000 hits in a few hours…
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89 Responses to “Modern HDR photography, a how-to or
Saturday morning relaxation”
1 senapati
July 15, 2006 at 1:46 pm
glad to have ended up here. thanks for the expansive read!
HDR perhaps involves lots of technical wizardry (until a device making it baby’s toy
comes out). I’ll have to be careful, but I see it as something to take photography close to
being real art. Until now, the subject in the photograph has been everything, light
occupying the lower rug. Maybe because it became to difficult to control it, and not
having film or sensors good enough to get such effects without flusing everything else
away from the level of aesthetic – well, they still aren’t, but now we have our dear
photoshop!!
I’ve seen games do it decent enough lately. Hope that the actualy camera world chases
HDR too.
[blogging this link on my website ]
Reply
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2 charles ravndal
July 15, 2006 at 2:05 pm
The effect is neat. Are you using a MAC btw ? Since MACs have more software for
graphics and others
Reply
3 range
July 15, 2006 at 2:06 pm
Thanks for you comments. I’m in the process of getting a DSLR. Right now, I’m getting
really into long exposures and HDR. It’s quite technical whilst still being very creative,
that’s right up my alley. I’ll include a lot more HDR photography in my coming posts.
And welcome to The Memoirs.
Reply
4 range
July 15, 2006 at 2:07 pm
@Chas: the person who did the photomatrix tutorial was using a mac, but I think that the
latest Photoshop with the right add ons should work good as well.
Reply
5 range
July 15, 2006 at 2:10 pm
BTW, as mentioned in the original header of this post, the three articles I have gathered
were not written by me. I have included full links and credits where is due.
Reply
6 Michael
July 15, 2006 at 2:43 pm
Great informative post! By far the best intro to HDR imaging that I have seen.
I have a somewhat related question: Is the differing dynamic range why movies shot on
video have such a different look from those shot on film?
Reply
7 range
July 15, 2006 at 2:52 pm
From what I have read, I think it’s related to that. Digital technology for film is getting
really fancy. But some still think that there is more detail available to those who shoot
on film.
However, since the advent of Star Wars and George Lucas, digital tech for films is
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really booming, since 1999. There are some applications for HDR video, however since
they take up a lot more space, between 4 times and 7 times more space, it is hard to say
when we will see a HDR film in theaters. As someone has mentioned, this technology
has been used in some video games.
I think it all boils down to how perfectly the sensors will be able to mimick and
outperform the human eye, because that is what HDR tech is doing, using different
modes to capture different images of the same thing then blending them together to get a
dynamic range of color.
Reply
8 K
July 15, 2006 at 3:09 pm
I think the stats are still screwed up. I’m getting 500 hits everytime I refreshed my page.
Reply
9 range
July 15, 2006 at 3:15 pm
Ok. Because that was a bit weird.
Reply
10 Kristine
July 15, 2006 at 3:40 pm
So, where do I begin? Oh…moy Gawsh!
Reply
11 range
July 15, 2006 at 3:49 pm
To begin, start out with a Digital Camera and a tripod. You will need Photoshop and
Photomatrix, to begin with.
Take a few pics, follow the directions of the second article. Focus stays the same.
Shutter speed is the one that changes. You go from very slow to very fast shutter speeds.
This enables you to catch a lot of different colors. You then use a software to combine
these images. Photomatrix is pretty straightforward. Photoshop takes some getting use to
to layer the pictures. I wouldn’t worry about the different ways to store the image. If you
can, store it in RAW format, because that will store even more colors.
Reply
12 K
July 15, 2006 at 3:57 pm
Sheesh now it’s 66K hits. What have you done?
Reply
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13 range
July 15, 2006 at 4:03 pm
@K. I’ll analyze this whole thing and get back to you. Mainly, it’s the phenomenon of
getting reddit. Also a lot of people have saved it on del.icio.us. Also, I’ve been
appearing on popurls, diggdot.us and some other sites. It’s the viral nature of the
blogosphere. It’s giving me some food for thought, I find myself in a similar position as
Marc Fawzi from Evolving Trends, who got dugg by digg and had 55000 hits in a day.
Reply
14 K
July 15, 2006 at 4:34 pm
Amazing! You’re now ranking everywhere in wp.com’s Top Blogs, Top Growing Blogs
and Top Post (this entry). I certainly have no clue behind “digg” or “reddit”. But now I
realized your hits are definately legit. In five days it’s going to triple up pretty fast.
WAY TO GO, Range!
Reply
15 range
July 15, 2006 at 4:41 pm
@K, thanks. Those memediggers are engines that enable users to submit stories. By
default, I always submit my posts to NowPublic and Reddit. This is the first time that
people have actually pushed one of my stories up to the top.
I’ll keep you updated and talk about this whole thing, with explanations for digg and
reddit for people who aren’t aware of their impact.
Reply
16 K
July 15, 2006 at 4:47 pm
Thanks Range – I’m such a noob to this kind of stuff. I used to have delicious but it
seemed like people just collects links & tags so I don’t totally get it. With this in mind,
it’s quite an interesting “toy” to play around with.
Now you’re making eyes widely awake – been reading that links you sent me. Hahaha.
Reply
17 range
July 15, 2006 at 4:52 pm
@K: you should check out the rest of Evolving Trends too. Even if you don’t know that
much about it, it explains the whole digg phenomenon. Marc Fawzi was able to
manipulate digg to make users digg his story. Though I didn’t think this would happen
to me, it has similarities.
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And also, if the memedigger first or second wave hit, you can easily extrapolate that
daily traffic on a site that was “dugg” will go up by a certain percentage.
Reply
18 range
July 15, 2006 at 4:55 pm
To quickly return to HDR photography, here is a link to a beta version of Photomatix’s
latest version of their software. Beta means free!
Also, the post was updated at 17:09 PM EST on Saturday the 15th of July 2006. See
the post for more details.
Reply
19 Mr Angry
July 15, 2006 at 7:20 pm
Dude, I was 154,001! Way to go for the angry alliance! SO how many in-depth papers
like this can you crank out a week?
Reply
20 range
July 15, 2006 at 7:23 pm
@Mr Angry: Shit I don’t know! Seriously, I’m working on a third follow-up article,
with more details and more advanced techniques. Looks like BBUK and BBAU took a
seat in the back burner! Naw, just joking but this is completely crazy. The counter has
trouble keeping up. I refresh it and oups, another 15000 hits. I have to do a vlog about
this today too.
Reply
21 rockwatching
July 15, 2006 at 11:40 pm
Unbelievable photo in that cathederal, it just blows me away – beautiful!
Reply
22 range
July 16, 2006 at 12:04 am
Thanks for your comment Maggie, that image is a kicker. I can’t image how the un
resized one looked, it must have been bursting with colors and details.
Welcome to The Memoirs.
Reply
23 Loki
July 16, 2006 at 1:06 am
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The images are nice, especially the cathedral ones and the painting
I am not dead
Reply
24 Ja
July 16, 2006 at 4:55 am
Hey Range!
I actually got here because I frequent Marc’s site, that’s crazy about the diggathon going
on between just the two of you, haha.
Anyway, question here that I don’t feel like looking up at the moment: HDRI… is it just
another way of saying HDR Image? Or is it specific to the light-maps created for 3D
renderings/animations. I usually only see HDRI when referencing 3D type stuff whereas
HDR is most often used when talking about the photos themselves. If they’re different,
what’s the connection? Just the transformation from the HDR photo to the more
spherical (or domed) lightmap? Hrm, that was more than one question… but maybe it’ll
give you some juice to fuel some writing.
Oh, here’s one of my fav HDR images. Check out the rest of his photostream for the rest
of his HDR collections… they’re amazing.
Cheers!
Jā
Reply
25 range
July 16, 2006 at 9:41 am
@Loki Hi there, it’s been a while!
@Ja: Thanks for you comment and welcome to The Memoirs.
HDR and HDRI are of course related. Where as the principle applies to photography, to
capture a lot more colors, the same is applied to computer graphics and 3D applications.
It’s the same basic premise, to blend a series of different captures together or mappings
in order to produce a composite that has a lot more detail. Computer graphics and 3D
models are the perfect applications for HDRI because you can control the contrasts
yourself, and HDRI works best with high contrasts so that a lot of details can be
distinguished.
Reply
26 Stephen Applegarth
July 16, 2006 at 12:53 pm
Impressive Article – I love the principle
I had a theory a while back, that i never fully managed to explain in a forum – basically
though if you took an intelligent digital camera with reasonable resolution – and had to
take a photo – could it not instead of taking a single 1 second exposure – take ten
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exposures of 1 tenth of a second, then the camera could combine them making the best
of the exposures.
I realise 1 second is a bit long for hand held work, but it could scale down a lot – and
would give the best of both worlds
I have a D70 and its photos are superb but its range is a little limited, so i was keen on
this idea.
Stephen
Reply
27 range
July 16, 2006 at 1:00 pm
@Stephen, welcome to The Memoirs.
Yes, I am myself quite interested in the possibilities of this principle. I am looking
forward to using it with longer expositions, to toy with it. I do enjoy the hyperrealism
factor of HDR, though I would like to apply it to night photography to capture different
moods.
Reply
28 Joanna
July 17, 2006 at 3:15 pm
Wow. Your excellent report, deep intellect, and strong understanding of photography
completely amazes me.
You have blown my mind I am very impressed.
Lots of Love,
Jo
Reply
29 range
July 17, 2006 at 3:50 pm
@Joanna
Thanks babe, I am starting to look forward to experimenting myself with HDR and long
exposures.
Reply
30 Juan Carlos Ferro
November 15, 2006 at 7:01 am
Are these numbers correct?:
If the settings for picture 0 is: 1/125 and f/4.5
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The settings for the remaining pictures are as follows:
* Picture +3: 1/250 f/4.5
* Picture +2: 1/200 f/4.5
* Picture +1: 1/160 f/4.5
* Picture 0: 1/125 f/4.5 (YOUR MASTER SETTING)
* Picture -1: 1/100 f/4.5
* Picture -2: 1/80 f/4.5
* Picture -3: 1/60 f/4.5
As far as I know f/stops were conceived to double or to halve the amount of light
reaching the “emulsion”. So you should consider doing the same with time (exposure) in
order to keep the same proportion: DOUBLE or HALVE. If you agree, then I think the
figure sholud be as follows:
* Picture +3: 1/1000 f/4.5
* Picture +2: 1/500 f/4.5
* Picture +1: 1/250 f/4.5
* Picture 0: 1/125 f/4.5 (YOUR MASTER SETTING)
* Picture -1: 1/60 f/4.5
* Picture -2: 1/30 f/4.5
* Picture -3: 1/15 f/4.5
Thank you. Best regards
Reply
31 range
November 15, 2006 at 8:05 pm
I think you are most probably right.
But like in most aspects, you have to play with them and see which will give the best
results. My guess it also depends on your camera and your lens. For the Nikon D200 the
optimal settings might be a bit different than a Canon 5D.
Welcome to The Memoirs.
Reply
32 Sunil
December 6, 2006 at 5:00 am
Great post!!
I use inspiration from a lot of HDR pictures to get the final ‘mood’ for some of my
paintings.
One of these days, I am going to learn how to go about and do this thing…
Reply
33 Michael
March 24, 2007 at 1:44 am
Excellent article – thanks for sharing!
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Reply
34 okinawaphotography
September 20, 2007 at 10:24 am
That’s awesome stuff. I do HDR photography also, would you be so kind as to reference
http://www.hdrjapan.com I have just updated my HDR photo essay showing the
amazing ungami festival in northern okinawa. This amazing festival was quite and
honor to attend.
Reply
35 nathancolquhoun
December 19, 2007 at 5:50 am
Amazing and one of the most helpful posts I’ve ever read for HDR photography, thankyou so much for this post.
Reply
36 Magdalena
March 19, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Well done my friend!
I’ve just got myself couple of photo magazines last week and read about HDR stuff first
time. This was amazing, but…I was hungry for more info, and this is how I found your
site!
You can be sure, I’ll spend fothcoming weekend on taking pictures around Edinburgh…
me, my tripod, my Pentax and your tips
Muchos grande!
Reply
37 Breff
April 29, 2008 at 5:54 pm
This is the problem with sites like this, you stumble across an article and the fifteen
minutes you planned to spend on interent turns into five hours!! No sleep last night.
Thanks a lot!!
Now where did I leave my tripod??
Reply
38 <athan Goodfellow
November 3, 2008 at 3:27 am
I also did some experimenting with HDR photography and posted my results Here
Reply
39 Abhilash
March 15, 2009 at 11:25 am
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I too recently started experimenting with HRD images. I have a sony a300 with which i
shoot my images and then I use qppfsgui for stacking images and tone mapping them.
Some of my shots are here:
http://hitchedhiker.com/2009/03/11/hdr-imaging-night-shots/
Reply
40 Frank
April 27, 2009 at 2:42 am
Many photographers think HDR photography is a party trick but this is defiantly not
true. High Dynamic Range Photography is a major part of the future of photography.
HDR photography is a new technology so many photographers are skeptical or
unfamiliar with it. Like in any business you have to learn the new technology or trends,
ignoring it or being scared to learn something new will just get you left behind.
Information is power.
Reply
41 hdr
May 16, 2009 at 7:31 am
I would love to take pictures of that church, it looks like an awesome place to shoot hdr.
Reply
1 I do » Blog Archive » links for 2006-07-17 Trackback on July 17, 2006 at 3:05 am
2 Viral One Online Markting Agency » The case study of the Memoirs on a
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9 The Swamp Land Exile Trackback on August 3, 2006 at 8:41 pm
10 Zeroization » Blog Archive » High Dynamic Range Trackback on August 4, 2006
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11 kolesnik.ru » Новые тенденции в графике: hdr
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16 Top 5 tips for getting the #1 post on Wordpress « Angry 365 Days a Year
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19 Helmet Hair - Motorcycle Blog » High dynamic range (HDR) motorcycle
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23 Air Raids In Taipei « memoirs on a rainy day
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24 Quick Introduction to HDR Photography Trackback on April 26, 2007 at 10:59 pm
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26 Diving into HDR Photography | Trackback on August 6, 2007 at 9:48 pm
27 Unlesbar » Archiv » Das große Foto-HDR-Roundup: 36 Links für den
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28 HDR discovery! « <iki Ren Trackback on September 1, 2007 at 9:02 am
29 First HDR Image - Ogmore Castle at rdsaunders.co.uk :: the personal
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30 MUMBAI | The Imperial Towers (formerly SD Towers) | 249m | 60+ fl |
U/C « Indian Skyscraper Blog Trackback on September 9, 2007 at 2:05 am
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32 HDR fotoğraflar — diyorum.com Birşeyler demek için gerekli aparat…
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